Monday, November 23, 2015

A Larger Number of Chipotle restaurants still Unsafe to Dine at due to the Harmful Bacteria "Shiga toxin-producing E.coli O26 (STEC O26)" that 1st Appeared on the West Coast but just recently We Learned that this Bacteria has been Linked to Illnesses Across the Entire U.S. from the Midwest to New York. What Motivated Ms. Katie Reilly with Reuters to Write a Complimentary Piece about Chipotle on Saturday is Disturbing, yet Odd things Occur during Times of Crisis when Billions of Dollars and Brand Reputation are on the Hook. Katie's Jovial Piece Claimed that She spoke to some Chipotle Customers and found that they are Undeterred by the E.coli Outbreak, telling her that their Main Reason for Eating the Food is because It's Fresh. Asinine and Bordering on Highly Suspicious Media, Buzz? You Decide by clicking here. The Food Source(s) that is now Responsible for Umpteen Violent Illnesses Remains a Mystery. Until the Scientists from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC) Identify the Food/Menu Item/Source that is Causing this Nightmare Outbreak, 45 Victims in 6 States Currently with 16 having being Hospitalized, Chipotle's Reputation is Likely Plummeting from Day to Day. Saturday's Bogus Press Releases that Many will Interpret as an Underhanded Deception in Order to somehow Try to Hoodwink the Public is Troubling.

And a Critically Important Nugget No Wall Street Analyst has even Touched is Whether Chipotle's Food Outbreak is being Caused by Contaminated (Accidental), or Adulterated Food (Wilful/Wanton Misconduct). If We Find Out that Chipotle's Food was Adulterated by some Evil Doer(s), this would Spark a Criminal Investigation and perhaps Cause Diners Who Decided to Turn their Backs to become more Sympathetic in the long-run and come back.The Healing Curves of Contamination versus Adulteration will be very Different for All Involved with Chipotle. Yet Regardless, Investors Should Remain Pained for the next Several Quarters at least as the company Admitted that Same Store Sales Growth would Slow to the Single-Digits in this Quarter and that Guidance was Given Before the E.coli Outbreak News was Disseminated.

To date, 10 STEC O26 isolates from ill people in Washington (9) and Minnesota (1) were found to be highly related genetically to one another.

CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing laboratory surveillance through PulseNet to identify additional ill persons and to interview them.

Consumers should contact a health care provider if they recently became ill with diarrheal symptoms after eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant.

CDC will advise the public if specific steps are identified that consumers can take to protect themselves.

November 20, 2015

Case Count Update

CDC is only reporting ill people that have been confirmed by PulseNet(http://www.cdc.gov/pulsenet/) as being infected with the outbreak strain of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 (STEC O26). Forty-five people infected with the outbreak strain of STEC O26 have been reported from 6 states. The majority of illnesses have been reported from Washington and Oregon. The number of ill people reported from each state is as follows: California (2), Minnesota (2), New York (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (13), and Washington (26).Among people for whom information is available, illnesses started on dates ranging from October 19, 2015 to November 8, 2015. Ill people range in age from 2 years to 94, with a median age of 22. Fifty-eight percent of ill people are female. Sixteen (36%) people reported being hospitalized. There have been no reports of hemolytic uremic syndrome and no deaths.This outbreak can be illustrated with a chart showing the number of people who became ill each day. This chart is called an epidemic curve or epi curve. Illnesses that occurred after October 31, 2015 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of E. coli Infection(http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/reporting-timeline.html) for more details.CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing laboratory surveillance through PulseNet to identify additional ill persons and to interview them.

Investigation Update

CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and public health officials in several states are investigating an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 (STEC O26) infections.The epidemiologic evidence available to investigators at this time suggests that a meal item or ingredient served at Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants at several states is a likely source of this outbreak. The investigation has not identified what specific food is linked to illness. Chipotle Mexican Grill is assisting public health officials with understanding the distribution of food items served at locations where ill people ate and this work is ongoing.State and local public health officials are interviewing ill people to obtain information about foods they might have eaten and other exposures in the week before their illness started. Forty-three (96%) of 45 people interviewed reported eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant. The investigation is ongoing to identify common meal items or ingredients causing illness.Investigators are also using whole genome sequencing, an advanced laboratory technique(http://www.cdc.gov/amd/), to get more information about the DNA fingerprint of the STEC O26 bacteria causing illness. To date, whole genome sequencing has been performed on STEC O26 isolates from 9 ill people in Washington and 1 ill person in Minnesota. All 10 isolates were highly related genetically to one another. This provides additional evidence that illnesses outside the Pacific Northwest are related to the illnesses in Oregon and Washington.Updates will be provided when more information is available.